site.btaVienna Economic Forum Takes Place in Sofia under Motto "Politics Meets Economy"

Sofia, May 18 (BTA) - Vienna Economic Forum - Sofia Talks 2018 took place here on Friday under the motto "Politics Meets Economy" under the auspices of the Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council and as an Official Side Event of the EU-Western Balkans Summit.

"During the Summit we achieved the objectives we had set ourselves: connecting people in the Western Balkans in economic, social, transport and energy terms," Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva said at the forum, quoted by her Ministry in a press release.

"The purely political prospects of membership are lagging behind economic ties. The European Union is the largest investor in the Western Balkans," Zaharieva pointed out. She added that the region's economic growth last year was approximately the same as the EU average: some 2.4 per cent. "At the same time, we need to do a lot to get near the EU average levels," she noted. "That was the idea of the Sofia Summit: both of the Declaration adopted and of the Sofia Agenda with its five specific activities and the commitments that financial institutions assumed immediately after the meeting to finance connectivity projects," Zaharieva stressed.

The Foreign Minister cited as a successful role model a declaration on a regional 'energy union' that the foreign and energy ministers of the Visegrad Four, the four EU Balkan EU Member States and the Western Balkan countries approved just a week ago. "This union includes all energy projects, not just the ones related to the gas transmission system but also electricity, and showed that together we can attract investments," Zaharieva said.

"In just the same way, the business community responded immediately to the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Good-neighbourliness and Cooperation with the Republic of Macedonia, and two-way trade grew 11 per cent within five months," she added.